A Bad Night Turned Good
by knifeperiod
Summary: Han Solo is having a really tough night. But all of that changes for the better when he meets a certain someone under odd circumstances... Originally a prompt from tumblr.


Han threw his weight into the door closing behind him, but he was too late.

" _Damn it!_ " he growled and pounded on it with his fist. He let his forehead hit the door and moaned in frustration, arm still raised above his head. He had left his apartment with a lighter, a pack of cigarettes, and a bottle of vodka to go out for an evening smoke on his balcony, but remembered a moment too late that he had forgotten to bring his keys with him. He shivered, wind blowing against his frame and the cold concrete floor like icy pinpricks on his bare feet. His _Millennium Falcon_ flannel pajama bottoms and baggy black tee seemed to do little to keep him warm outside the seventh floor of his building. He crossed his arms close across his body and glanced around his balcony.

His eyes searched for anything he might be able to use to pick the lock, a handy skill he had learned in his profession as a… smuggler _goods transporter_ , but found nothing. He had previously told Lando, the man who owned the apartment complex, that automatic locks on these doors were a bad idea, but he just wouldn't listen. Lando asserted that these doors would help prevent criminals from breaking into people's apartments. Han had suggested that it would be ridiculous for someone to climb seven stories on a fire escape to steal things from someone, but Lando was resolute. Han glanced over the railing.

"Why me _?"_ he sighed as he slowly and carefully began to work his way down the fire escape.

He made his way down, step by step, clutching the frigid, metal handrail that wrapped around the perimeter of the narrow space.

 _It's about time,_ Han thought as his bare feet, sore from the grated metal walkways, finally touched the ground. He ran a hand through his tawny hair as he paused for a moment at the bottom of the fire escape, breathless. He sat in the grass for a moment, back against the brick wall of the building. Pulling the pack of cigarettes and the blaster-shaped lighter out of his pockets, he began to smoke.

"What a night." He puffed, cigarette dangling from his lips.

He looked up at the stars in the night sky; his breathing slowing. After a while of lazily blowing smoke up towards the stars, he got up, brushed himself off, and headed inside to see about getting back into his room. Heading through the sliding glass doors of the lobby, he called to Lando who was assisting a young man that was holding a bouquet of red roses at the main desk.

"Lando! It happened! I told you it would happen and it did, but you just wouldn't listen to me! That damned balcony door locked me out and I had to climb down seven flights of stairs on the ice-cold fire escape! Do you know how _cold_ it is out there? I need the spare key to my damn room." He barked, furious.

"Well, Han!" Lando chuckled. Did know that you're the only resident here that's managed to get themselves locked out on their balcony?"

"It not my fault!" Han exclaimed, gesturing to his chest with a hand.

"Right… maybe you should invest in a doorstop. Then you wouldn't have this problem, would you?" Lando retorted with his eyebrows raised.

Han's eyes narrowed in embarrassment and anger. His voice lowered in volume when he spoke next.

"Just give me the damn key, Lando." He grumbled. "I don't have time to screw around with you right now. It's cold and I just want to get back to my room."

Lando gestured to the young blond man, who gazed at Han with electric blue eyes, which were lit up with a combination of condolence and playful amusement, as if he couldn't decide which emotion was proper for this situation.

"I'm a little busy right now, but I keep the keys in a locked box in my storeroom. It'll be on a table directly to your left as soon as you enter." Lando tossed him the key and gestured behind him.

"The storage room is back there. Don't make me regret trusting you with my key, Han... Got it?"

Han rolled his eyes, taking another drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"Yeah yeah, Lando, I'll bring it right back. Don't you worry!"

"Oh, and Han?" Lando called.

"What is it now, Lando?" Han complained, exasperated.

"Put that damn cigarette out. You know you're not supposed to be smoking inside my building." he berated.

Han sighed, took a final, deep drag and stubbed his cigarette out in an ashtray on the desk. It seemed liked Lando had had it put there specifically for him. He coughed into a fist. Han then walked past Lando and the blond man (who was now trying to suppress a smile, and failing), liquor in hand, and turned the storage room's doorknob. A squeal came from the door's hinges as he pushed the door open. His hand searched the wall for the light switch and flicked it up after he found it. Inside, he could see rows and rows of shelves with many tools, cleaning supplies, and boxes of various shapes and sizes. Han turned to his left as Lando had instructed and found a gray, metal box among a sea of paperwork on a table that was stuffed in the corner. He inserted the key into the silver lock and started searching the contents of the box for his spare key. After a brief moment of searching, he plucked it out of the box, shut said box, locked it, and started to head back to the front desk.

"It's almost over." He mumbled.

He made his way out of the storage room and handed the key back to Lando, who was now alone. Han expressed his gratitude.

"Thanks, old friend." He stated.

"Yeah, don't mention it." Lando replied.

Han then headed down the hallway to the elevators.

"Just don't let it happen again!" He heard shouted from the lobby.

 _That Lando…_ Han thought, rolling his eyes with a smirk. He and Lando went way back. He didn't completely trust him, but Lando was more or less his friend. They had met in the smuggling business, paired together for a particularly difficult run, but due to Lando's quick wit and Han's charming persona, they managed it without any difficulty whatsoever. As he rounded the corner, he saw one of the elevator doors closing, and in response, called out

"Hold the door!"

A hand darted out and stopped the doors before they could close on him.

"Hey, thanks." Han mumbled. He entered the elevator, recognizing the stranger to be the younger, blond man that Lando was helping at the front desk.

"Of course." The man said in response.

"Nice PJs." The stranger smiled at him, eyes crinkling into a genuine smile. Before Han had looked at him, he had assumed that the younger man was just being a smart-ass, rubbing his misfortune into his face and was preparing a snarky comment of his own to deliver. But after he turned to the man holding the roses, he saw him smiling and he knew that that was not the case.

"Thanks." He replied, running a hand through his hair. He felt his cheeks heat a little. He hoped the elevator's other occupant didn't notice that the color red had tinted his cheeks.

Han then reached over and mashed for the button for the seventh floor with his thumb and noticed the man was going to the sixth. Without any further interruption, the elevator doors closed and the elevator slowly accelerated upwards. Or at least it did until about halfway past floor four. The elevator slowed to a stop and the lights flicked off.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Han groaned.

"What happened?" The man inquired. Han could hear the surprise in his voice.

"Don't worry, it's probably just a power outage." Han replied, pulling out his lighter and conjuring a small flame from its chimney. The lighter softly illuminated their faces.

"Well, I suppose we just have to wait for help." The man sighed.

"At least we don't have to sit in the dark."

"Sorry, kid, but I'm nothin' but bad luck tonight." Han apologized, then raised the bottle of vodka up to his lips as he took a drink. The corners of the man's lips twitched upwards once more.

"Everything happens for a reason. From what I heard in the lobby, it sounds like you managed to lock yourself out of your apartment… Sorry, I know it's rude to listen in to other people's conversations." the blond finished, averting his eyes. Han waved his apology away.

"Don't worry about it. I mean, _was_ shouting. So I guess it's safe to assume you already know how _I_ got into this mess." Han concluded.

"What about you? How did you end up caught up in my bad luck?" At this, the other man chuckled.

"I'm here to visit my sister. She's caught the flu recently, so I thought I'd drop by with some flowers and see if she'd like me to stay and take care of her for a while." He held up the bouquet of roses as proof. Han nodded in response, wishing he had someone that was willing to drop everything and take care of him like that. He took a swig of vodka relishing the burn of the liquid fire running down his throat.

"What's with the bottle of vodka? Rough night?" the blond questioned.

"You could say that." Han surmised, not going any further. The other man could smell the vodka on his breath.

"You want to talk about it?" The boy prodded verbally.

"We've got plenty of time."

"With a complete stranger?" Han shared a smile with the boy.

"I'm Luke." The boy finally revealed.

"Han." Han rearranged the objects that he was carrying so that the bottle was in the crook of his left arm and the lighter was in the corresponding hand so that he could shake Luke's hand. When they grabbed hands, Han found that he was reluctant to let go of Luke's… but he did so anyway.

"Can you hold the lighter, Luke?" Han asked, tired of holding it up any longer.

"Yeah, sure." Luke answered, taking the lighter from Han's hand.

Han sighed and moved backwards until his back touched the wall opposite to the doors, then slid down to sit on the floor. He held the bottle out to his new acquaintance.

"Vodka?" He asked.

"Oh, I can't. I might have to drive home if my sister doesn't want me to stay with her." Luke refused.

"Oh, come on." Han insisted.

"If your sister doesn't let you stay at your place, you can always stay the night with me." He flirted shamelessly, hitting Luke with the 'Solo Smirk.' He watched Luke's reaction carefully for any negative signs. Instead, however, he thought he saw him blushing, but he dismissed it as wishful thinking, if there's anything of the sort. Luke took the bottle, had a swig, and sat down next to Han, placing the flowers in his lap. Han felt his face warm again: the blond's shoulder was touching Han's. He took a breath before speaking again.

"I've been feeling pretty lonely lately. I don't have any close friends, so I've just been working a lot lately and it just feels like I'm going through the motions. I know, it's kind of pathetic to get upset over something like this." Han sighed, now looking at his bare feet. He heard a clink and rustling to his left. When he glanced over, he found that Luke had put the vodka down and slipped one of the roses from the bouquet in his lap and was holding it out for Han to take in one hand, and the lighter in the other, all the while blushing fiercely.

"Seems like you could use something to cheer you up, after all the bad luck you've been having tonight." Luke managed awkwardly.

"I think you're right." Han replied slowly. He twisted his torso and brought his right hand up to tilt Luke's chin up, bringing his lips towards his own. He leaned in and closed his eyes, pausing before his lips touched Luke's. He wanted to allow Luke to have an out if he didn't want to kiss him. But instead of recoiling, Luke hesitantly pressed his lips to Han's, carefully placing the lighter and the rose on the floor. As he had put it on the floor, Luke had closed the top of the lighter, enveloping them in darkness. But it didn't matter because they weren't using their eyes anymore, they were exchanging kisses. Luke tangled his hands in Han's hair while Han caressed Luke's face with one hand, the other wrapping around Luke's waist pulling him against his body. However, after a few moments of soft kisses, they lips broke apart; feeling the floor of the elevator shake and hearing the sound of a motor running. The lights flickered back on.

"I guess the fun's over." Han smirked at Luke, catching his breath.

"Great timing." Luke grumbled, sounding disappointed and placing his face in Han's neck. His cheeks were flushed a deep red, which drastically contrasted his ice blue eyes. Han stood and held his hand out palm up to Luke, who took it, and helped him up off the floor. He didn't let go of his hand this time. Instead, he brought it up to his lips and kissed it tenderly. He then looked into Luke's eyes, a beautiful pale blue which drastically contrasted the deep red of his flushed cheeks.

"Luke…" He began softly, eyes flicking up to the panel that displayed the floor number. The panel displayed the number five. He pulled Luke into a hug, putting his forehead against Luke's.

"I'd like to see you again sometime soon. Can I stop by your sister's room sometime this evening so that I can give you my phone number?"

"I'd like that." Luke agreed, moving his head back so that he could glance up into Han's hazel eyes. The elevator started to slow to a stop, much too soon for either of their liking. He tried to release Luke from his embrace, but when he tried to pull back he found that Luke wouldn't let go. He smiled and wrapped his arms around Luke again, holding him against his chest with one arm over Luke's shoulders and the other around Luke's waist. They heard the elevator doors finally open and slowly broke apart.

"See you then, Han." Han picked the bouquet and the lighter off of the floor and handed them to Luke.

"The lighter's yours. Keep it as a reminder." Han said sweetly. Luke smiled and took it, then stepped out of the elevator.

"Thanks, Han." Their eyes remained locked, even when the doors began closing. It wasn't until he could no longer see him did he let his eyes fall, shifting out of focus as he started to play back the memory of what just happened in his head. He closed his eyes and he imagined that he could still feel Luke pressed against him. He smiled.

Then he felt the elevator slowing to a stop, so he gathered the bottle of vodka off of the floor, impressed it hadn't spilled everywhere, and the rose Luke had given to him. He paused, holding the rose to his chest with his eyes closed.

 _What a night._ He thought to himself.


End file.
